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Wolf Corp. robotics team wins regional competition

Wolf Corp. won the FIRST Tech Challenge Interleague Regionals Sunday, Jan. 27 at Paris High School.

Wolf Corp. is a robotics team that participates in regional, state and national tournaments. On Sunday, the team competed in five matches against other robots. Each round, lasting for 2 minutes and 30 seconds, included an automatic and a manned stage in which robots collected spheres and cubes from a crater in the center of the arena.

“It’s really fun and exciting,” freshman Glory Zhang said. “You get to meet new people, especially when we go out and explain robotics. It’s like another family [with] plenty of friends.”

The team had been preparing for the interleagues since September. Members drew the initial design for their robot and then used pre-cut kits to build it. Over the past months, the team had been programming the robot, wiring the electrical system and practicing the operating strategy.

“It’s pretty hard because sometimes it breaks. It’s not the best design, so you have to keep redesigning it,” freshman Evan Soema said. “[Winning is] a pretty good accomplishment in my opinion. We practice a lot, and it pays off in tournaments [to] get high rankings.”

Members have since created an improved version of the first robot they built. The new robot can hang on a vertical surface, using an intake and outtake mechanism to hold more objects. With the new robot, which addresses the initial flaws in the design, the team looks forward to another set of matches at the state level.

“I’ve learned wiring and the basics of building,” Zhang said. “It’s really fun to just spend time with friends, and it’s really nice watching the robot work [when] it’s successful.”